This poem appears in a letter written by Heine to Moses Moser (October 25, 1824) on the subject of The Rabbi of Bacherach, which Heine was then engaged in writing. This translation appears here by permission of Schocken Books.
_____________
A brotherly forbearance
Has united us for ages:
You, you tolerate my breathing
And I tolerate your rages.
Just a few benighted eras
Found you feeling rather odd,
Coloring your loving-pious
Little talons with my blood.
Later we became more cordial,
Day by day our friendship grew—
For I also started raging
And I almost seem like you.
_____________